You won by just 1lb - such a tiny number! What did you think when you heard that?"You know what, in my head I didn't even realize it was only 1lb. It was that I won! At the end of the day, yes, it was so close, but the fact that I did it - because in my eyes, I didn't think I was going to do it, only because I was up against some big boys. The numbers weren't really in my favor. But just like this whole season, nothing was in my favor! And even though it was just by 1lb, I still did it, and I think that's the best message anyone can get - all odds can be against you all the time, but there's still a chance. And that's when I said, 'Why not me?' and it felt like this was mine to have."

Jillian has said you two used a visualization technique to imagine you being the winner. Can you talk about that?"Jillian told me you can't have it if you can't see it, so it was like we had to make sure, 'Remember, feel what it would be like to be standing up there, feel the confetti falling on your face, visualize it'. Because when you can really see it and you can see all aspects around it, that's when you can truly achieve it. You see the whole goal right in front of you and it just kept me motivated every single day."

Leading up to that final weigh-in, how confident were you that you were going to win?"In my head, I had already figured out that I didn't want to lose any moment from this regardless of a win or loss. I already got in my head, 'You already won'. I was just living in that moment, and if I could win the overall prize, that would just be the cherry on top. I was confident going up on that stage, but it always rings true - every single time, you get up on that scale you hit that, 'Well, I know I did everything I could do, but was it enough? And Jeff looks amazing, and I would have to lose more than 120lb'. That was actually right at my goal, so I didn't know if I could do it. You know, you start to question at the end and it was just a back and forth motion of I knew I did the work, but was it enough? And I was just so glad I could say, 'Yes, yes it was enough'."

When you became the last member of the white team, did you ever imagine that this would be how things turned out?"If you told me week five when I was all by myself, crying in my bed because I had no more team - I was all by myself, I didn't know what I was going to do, I didn't think I would make one more week - that I would be standing at the top with the confetti falling down and the giant check for $250,000, I would have thought you were nuts! But I think the best thing was, that week I also did learn it was up to me to change things, in my hands to change my stars. I was able to do it, and I think that's the best story for everyone out there and we're challenging America - if I can do it, you totally can do it."

When you won by 1lb, I really thought it was fitting given your battle to survive this season. But do you think maybe becoming the only surviving member of the White Team was the best thing that could have happened to you?"Honestly, I hate to say it, in the sense of it, was the most heartbreaking thing to lose my entire team, but at the time, or looking back at it now, I think it was the best thing that could have ever happened. It forced me to confront myself, and I was the girl that had the disease to please - I was always worrying about everyone else and not worrying enough about myself. Well, when my team left, I had no-one else to worry about but myself, and I was finally able to put into perspective that, 'You have to help yourself before you can help anyone else, because you need to be the best'. Hannah from season 11 taught me, 'There's only one Danni - you have to be the best Danni, so be the best Danni out there because that Danni is the one that's going to help people go forward'. That's what I had to learn, and I learned it the hard way, but sometimes the hard way's the best way."

Can you talk about the bond you formed with Jillian?"I think the best thing that could ever happen for me is I can actually call Jillian Michaels not just a trainer, but a friend. She was there for me 100% - she was my trainer, she was there for the physical part, but she was also my therapist. She was there to really help work on me mentally because she knew we couldn't get anywhere without fixing what was behind the scenes and what had been guarded. Once we got that process, it became a great bonding moment, because she would share and expose her demons. Jillian Michaels seems like this hard, rough exterior but she is a beautiful person inside and out, and when she shared and exposed her stories that made me feel comfortable to really open myself up. We both kind of exposed ourselves to each other and with that, I think, developed a bond and a trust for each other that we knew that if we just confided and trusted in each other we can do amazing things and miracles would happen. Truly for the first time, she helped me learn what it was like to dream again, and I am truly and eternally grateful for that. She is one of the best people I have been able to surround myself with."

You seemed close with Pam on the show - was that just because you were the only White Team members, or was it a real friendship?"There's no doubt in my mind that I made a friend for life with Pam. She is just a truly amazing, strong person and there was just a moment that we had when she was leaving - she just held my shoulders and locked my eyes and she goes, 'Girl, you have nothing else now - you got this. Take this home, win it for yourself'. She just had this moment with me that was so purely not about the fact that she was leaving, but about the fact that she knew she was leaving me in good hands and that I was going to be strong. It just touched me so much. Pam is this amazing person. From the Pam dance on the stage to the amazing personality that she is and who she is to her daughter, she's just a great human being. The one bummer is that the one time I'm in New York, she's still back in LA, so I can't wait to continue our friendship from here on out, because it was definitely not just for show."

She gave you a big hug at the finale - what did she say to you?"She just whispered to me, 'I told you so!' It was like she believed it all along and it took me a little longer to believe it along the process. I was also just reeling with how amazing she looked. She looked happy, she looked beautiful, she was radiating. I just responded with, 'We did it. We're here'. It was just a beautiful moment and I love that woman, I do. I love her and I will always love her."

How do you feel different now from when you began the show?"Oh my gosh, I feel different in every which way possible. I think the obvious part is the physical - it's the mental change that I've been able to completely just change myself and change who I am and going to be. My head is in such a good place right now, and that's what I needed, and I think that's kind of what my secret weapon was - once I got my head on straight, everything else just came, and then I was just able to rock it on that stage last night and it was the best feeling ever."

What's the most important thing you learned from being on the show?"I think the most important thing I learned is that you really do have to get your head on straight, but you have to do it for yourself. At the end of the day, you can only have yourself and once you get that in your head, that it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks or you don't have to help everyone else, you have to help yourself before you can help yourself - that was the biggest thing I learned."

Can you talk about some of the emotional changes you've gone through?"I think the physical transformation is right in front of you - there's no question there, I've been physically able to transform. But the best part is just mentally... it's amazing the new person that I've become. And that is something Jillian actually focused on right from the beginning. She asked the hard questions - the, 'Why are you fat? Why are you the way you are?' She asked those questions that no-one would ever ask you before, because she knew I didn't ask them myself and I hid them in a corner. So being able to confront those hard questions and those demons and let them out and expose them gave me the tools to fight them. Some of them have been cured, some of them I'm going to fight for the rest of my life, but at least now I know I have the tools to keep that going."

What's the proudest moment you had during your Biggest Loser journey?"There are so many moments, but I think one of my favorite, really, and proudest - just because it really showed the hard work - was the time I think they showed, I was sitting in my room with my mom and my sister and going through my old clothes. And I held up my fat jeans and they almost wrapped completely around me - and that was only at the makeover stage! I just remember feeling, 'The proof is in the pudding! I'm holding up a size 20 jean, and yet I'm standing here in a size ten'. Now, I'm a size four. I'm actually making a shadow box of three sets of jeans - my biggest set of jeans, my makeover jeans, the jeans I sang in during that challenge, and then my new size four jeans. It's like that perfect display, and that was one of the culminating moments that just visually put it in there."

What are your plans now?"First of all, I am just enjoying the moment. That's the one thing my mom made me promise, is that I would enjoy this moment. So I'm going to do it, but I also did set some goals beyond The Biggest Loser because I knew I needed something else to look forward to afterwards. And my goal was to run my first marathon this year, so I am trying to sign up for the Chicago marathon in 2013, in October, and that's going to be my first fitness goal to reach outside The Biggest Loser."

What are your plans for your winnings?"As far as this money goes, I had made no plans for it because I thought it would be too taboo. I'm like, 'Uh uh, do not plan for money that you do not have!' But the one thing that the finalists did say - you know, Jeff and I were like, 'Look, you know, we're both guaranteed finalists. You and I know we're both going to work hard'. We promised each other that we would reward the other one with a vacation and we're going to go on a vacation to reward each other and to be like, 'We did this together'. And to be the winner by 1lb, I am happy to keep my word and take Jeff. I'll probably take Francelina too, since those two are pretty inseparable, and I'll just be the third wheel! Everyone's talking about how I'm single and hot now so maybe I'll find my man on this vacation too!"

We saw you singing in public earlier this season - is that something you'd like to do more of or was it just a one-off?"No, honestly, I do think I want to keep on singing. Now do I want to be a famous singer? I don't know. I just know the feeling that I get when I'm on stage. You do get that amazing rush. But I'm hoping that as time goes on, and my confidence keeps building, my fear will slowly start to go down, and I'll truly just enjoy what singing makes me feel like. It kind of does expose you but there's an exciting, exposed feeling, and I love it. It's something silly, it's something that takes my mind away from the everyday world, so I do love it and I'd love to keep exploring that as well as other options that are coming my way."

Good, because you were great!"Oh, thank you! I watched it again, I was like, 'Ooh, that started really shaky', but I think I hit it in the end which is kind of the story of this show - it was rocky in the beginning but that last note can save it!"

Do you have any new favorite foods now that your nutrition is different?"My funny favorite food - I bet everyone is going to make fun of me and wince their nose - but I absolutely love Brussels sprouts!"